Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Tonight's Sky for June 2: Full Moon

Tonight, the Moon
will reach its full phase, which means that, as seen from Earth, it
is directly opposite the Sun in the sky as seen from Earth and is at
the half way point in its current orbit.

As
for lunar mechanics, the Moon is always half lit. The reason we don't
always see it as such is thanks to orientation in relation to us.
Right now, when the Moon is opposite the Sun and on the far
side of Earth, we can see all of its lit side, which is why it
appears to be “full.” In the coming nights, we will start to see
less of the Moon as its lit side starts to turn away from us as seen
from Earth and heads toward Third Quarter.